PK-14 Cosmonaut Flightsuit Worn by Helen Sharman

PK-14 Cosmonaut Flightsuit Worn by Helen Sharman

PK-14 cosmonaut flightsuit manufactured by RD&PE ZVEZDA. Worn by Helen Sharman on the Project Juno mission in 1991. This style of flightsuit was manufactured throughout the 90s and is made up of a jacket and sleeveless jumpsuit (dungaree style trousers).

Helen Sharman wore this item as she became the first British person in space, when she travelled to the Mir space station during the Project Juno mission. Helen had responded to an advert seeking an astronaut, ‘no experience necessary’, whilst working as a specialist in chocolate flavouring at the Mars confectionary company. After being selected ahead of 12,000 other candidates, she received training at the Soviet Union’s cosmonaut training facility at Star City. She launched on 18 May 1991, forever etching her name into the history of British exploration.

The suit consists of a turquoise polywool double-knit zip-front jacket, band bottom with snap tabs, stand collar, zip-close sleeves and four double-breasted patch pockets with zip-closures. The jacket has appliqué patches consisting of a Union Jack on the left-hand sleeve, Juno mission patch on the right-hand sleeve, Zvezda logo on the right-hand side of the chest and a bi-lingual name label on the left-hand side of the chest. The sleeveless zip-fronted jumpsuit is the same colour and made from the same fabric as the jacket. It has stirrup legs, an additional zipper close at the crotch, four front facing zip-close pockets, utility pockets at the bottom of both legs and a back pocket on the right-hand side.

The suit has small brown stains on the right-hand chest area caused by a hot chocolate spill that happened whilst on the Mir space station. The jacket was rarely worn, as it was usually too hot.

Web resources

• Find out more about Helen Sharman